Liverpool did not know how things would pan out as they stepped into the unknown following Jurgen Klopp’s decision to step down. But the Reds rode the crest of that wave of belief and emerged as Premier League champions with Arne Slot at the helm.
Milos Kerkez, one of Europe’s most promising full-backs, has been signed, and Jeremie Frimpong and Florian Wirtz have both completed transfers from Bayer Leverkusen to Merseyside. Giorgi Mamardashvili is Alisson Becker’s new training partner between the sticks.
And, of course, Liverpool have now finalised a £79m deal for Eintracht Frankfurt’s Hugo Ekitike, who has been described as “the perfect centre-forward” by pundit Owen Hargreaves.
The exciting part is that there’s more still to come. However, this isn’t one-way traffic for the Anfield side: Trent Alexander-Arnold left for Real Madrid many weeks ago; Darwin Nunez is slated to move away.
And Luis Diaz is the focus of a concerted approach from Bayern Munich.
The latest on Luis Diaz's Liverpool future
There’s a lot of noise around Diaz and his Liverpool future, and it feels like he might be set to leave in the coming weeks.
Bayern have already seen a £58.5m bid knocked back for the Colombia international, and they are reportedly ready to bid again.
Though Slot won’t want to lose such an important part of his first-team squad, Diaz is 28 and has entered the next-to-the-last year of his contract. A new deal doesn’t appear to be forthcoming.
Liverpool have Cody Gakpo on the left flank, but Diaz has emerged as a shrewd option at centre-forward in Slot’s system, and it might take more than just Ekitike, who is 23, to replace him.
Left winger
76
31
21
Centre-forward
16
8
1
Right winger
6
1
1
Thus, the spending might not be concluded just yet for the Merseysiders.
Liverpool favourites for Diaz replacement
On Thursday, perhaps the biggest breaking news of the transfer window emerged. Alexander Isak wants to explore a move away from St James’ Park this summer.
Well, according to transfer insider Graeme Bailey, Liverpool have retained their interest in the Newcastle United striker, even after sealing a deal for Ekitike, with a first approach made at the start of last week regarding his availability.
In fact, Arsenal and Chelsea, both keen on the Premier League superstar, have been informed that his preference would be to join Liverpool this summer, should he leave St. James’ Park.
However, Isak would cost a significant outlay. The Magpies would want him to eclipse the June deal for Wirtz, seeking a British-record £130m fee for his signature.
The 25-year-old has not travelled with Newcastle for their pre-season tour in Asia and is exploring his options as he targets a move to Merseyside.
Why Alexander Isak could help Liverpool replace Diaz
Analyst Raj Chohan declared Isak to have been “the best striker in the world” last season, having scored 27 goals and supplied six assists across 42 matches in all competitions for Newcastle.
The likes of Erling Haaland and Viktor Gyokeres might have scored at a more clinical rate, but the Sweden star is unmatched when it comes to creativity, completeness.
As per FBref, he ranked among the top 16% of centre-forwards across Europe’s top five leagues last season for shot-creating actions, the top 13% for progressive passes, the top 8% for progressive carries and the top 7% for successful take-ons per 90.
A successful take-on is recorded when a player beats their opponent by directly carrying the ball past them while retaining possession.
It’s accepted that Isak would take Liverpool’s team to the next level, combining with Ekitike and Wirtz and Mohamed Salah to an extraordinary effect. There’s no question that he would be the pick of the goalscoring bunch.
The £120k-per-week striker would definitely mark an upgrade on Diaz, who impressed as a makeshift number nine last season but doesn’t have that natural-born instinct that Isak would bring to the table.
To be sure, Diaz stood out for his electric movements and off-the-ball movements, ranked among the top 3% of strikers across Europe last year for both progressive carries and successful take-ons per 90.
However, in Isak, Liverpool would be signing a new sensation capable of upholding such tactical virtues while concurrently transcending the goal threat that Slot currently has at his disposal from central options, with pundit Alan Shearer noting his “world-class” ball-striking ability.
1.
Erling Haaland
97
85 (0.88)
2.
Mohamed Salah
108
66 (0.61)
3.
Alexander Isak
86
54 (0.63)
4.
Ollie Watkins
112
50 (0.45)
5.
Bryan Mbeumo
101
38 (0.38)
Furthermore, while Diaz’s haul of 17 goals and eight assists across all competitions in 2024/25 denotes his high-level clinical ability, he enjoyed several purple patches throughout the season, bagging braces against Manchester United and Bournemouth in September, and another against Tottenham Hotspur in December.
Diaz also posted a hat-trick during Liverpool’s 4-0 romp over Bayer Leverkusen Champions League.
Such details are hardly to the South American’s detriment, but they do highlight his proneness to stretches without prolific impact, and in Isak, Liverpool would not have that same problem, for he is one of the most consistently threatening strikers in the business, and creative besides.
If the cogs fall into place and Liverpool truly have a window to strike at Newcastle’s talisman, they must do so. Such a signing would cement Slot’s project as one of the definitive of this generation – worldwide.
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